In a first-of-its-kind initiative launched by a non-profit body headed by the prime minister and a peripheral wing of AIIMS, senior citizens will teach underprivileged children at a government school in Noida.

The Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti in collaboration with the Health Aging India, a non-profit organisation working as a peripheral wing of the department of geriatric medicine at AIIMS, have commissioned the centre which will be run at Purba Madhyamik Vidyalaya in Noida, Uttar Pradesh.

The pilot project will be funded by the Ministry of Culture, which plans to launch similar centres across the country.

The idea is to give the elderly a meaningful engangement and empower underprivileged school children by providing them holistic education from senior citizens, Dr Prasoon Chatterjee, an assistant professor at AIIMS, said.

"Besides their regular subjects, students from Class 6 to 12 will also be given life lessons for two hours after school. The idea is also to tap the knowledge of these senior citizens," he said.

Also, the elderly feel cut-off from the society and get isolated in today's fast-paced life. The motto is to bring them together at a platform to foster sensitivity among the youngsters, Chatterjee said.

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